The New

I'm glad I went to Montreal.  It was a nice change from the United States.  It's such a close flight, I'm surprised there aren't more Americans visiting for a holiday.  Maybe that old cliche about Americans never leaving America is sadly more true than we realise.

I was back in New York now.  I had a few more days before I would be heading back home so I wanted to embrace as much of this great city as possible.  I got myself an airbnb up in Spanish Harlem which was now firmly in the grips of gentrification.  I had been traveling for a while, so I had some chores that I needed to do first, in particular laundry.  I walked downstairs and found the closest laundromat.  Hanging around in a laundromat felt like something out of a sitcom.  The low hum of the machines and the occasional sounds of Spanish conversations continued on as I sat there patiently waiting for my clothes to wash and dry.

Once all my chores were done, I set out for the New Museum in Nolita.  I had tried to visit the last time I was in New York, but it had sadly been closed.  New York is filled with galleries and museums, but the "New" would definitely be considered one of the "big" galleries of the city, even if slightly below the likes of Mona, the Guggenheim and the Whitney.  I went in and found it almost deserted.

There was a strange mixture of art and displays throughout the gallery.  There wasn't a particularly theme to anything and each floor seemed dedicated to its own particular show or category.  I wasn't quite sure if there was a permanent display, possibly this was what was there on the top floor, with all the other floors instead seeming to be dedicated to temporary exhibits.

Nothing really grabbed me.  The displays were interesting enough, but nothing was memorable.  What I actually found to be far more eye catching was the interiors of the building itself.

There was a sparseness to the design of the building, with huge amounts of polished concrete, white and light being used to accentuate the clean designs.

I walked around for a bit before I walked towards the cobbled streets of Soho.  The contrast between the New and the old world charm of Soho was as dramatic as it comes.